LEARNING WHY HADASSAH HOSPITAL WAS NOMINATED FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND ABOUT THE NEW HADASSAH HOSPITAL TOWER

Itongadol / AJN- Speaking to the Argentinian Jewish News Agency (AJN) Claudia Rubinsztain, Spanish speaking tour guide and Public Relations Officer of the Medical Center, explained why Hadassah, which has provided medical care in Jerusalem since 1912, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She stated that the hospital reaches patients around the world, and since its founding has always “thought, worked, and lived with a philosophy called ‘bridges to peace”.

Rubinsztain explained that “bridges to peace” means that there is no discrimination based on gender, political, or religious ideology. “So when you walk in the hospital you see the different ways the people are dressed, and you realize how many different ethnic groups are in the hospital. It is completely normal to see a Franciscan priest, a girl in a miniskirt, and an Arab sheik all sitting waiting to be served by the same physician. That’s why we were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. ”

The Sara Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower

The latest project of Hadassah women in the United States and Hadassah International is the inpatient Sara Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower. Hadassah International is a NGO of men and women around the world, Jews and non-Jews of good faith who want to help the hospital Hadassah to remain a pioneer in medical research, technological innovation, education and the care and treatment of patients.

“The entrance to the hospital is now through the tower, which is 5 years old and is the largest building in Jerusalem,” Rubinsztain said. The whole design of the building is green and there are many natural plants and trees. “The idea of the architect was to create an atmosphere here within the walls of the hospital of being both inside and outside at the same time.” Of the 800 beds in the hospital, 500 are in the tower. She also noted that the hospital is different from any other because it is closer to the concept of a 5 star hotel than anything else.

The original Hadassah hospital (at Ein Kerem), was built and designed during the 50s, and ideas of what a hospital should be have changed a lot since then, both in structure and mentality. Before, the rooms were designed to have up to five beds, while today, the new building has only single and double rooms because “privacy is what counts.” Each room has a television with free service, while in the previous building this was not so. The chairs in the room can convert into a bed, so that the patient may have someone accompany them during their stay, “and that’s a revolution in this country, because before this option was provided only for pediatrics, not for adults,” said Claudia Rubinsztain.

She explained that the public part of the hospital has four healing gardens, serving both patients and families. They represent the four basic elements of the planet: air, water, fire and earth. “For example in the garden of red flowers there, fire is represented” said Rubinsztain. She said that another important thing is that near each bed in the building, there are one or two windows, so that the patient can see life in the surrounding landscape.

The Tower has 19 floors, of which 5 floors are an underground bunker hospital, designed in case of conventional or chemical or biological warfare. The Israeli government has designated this as a strategic place for Israel. The operating rooms and hybrid operating room are the most advanced technology in the world.